What They’re Saying: Nicholson “Taking Heat” for “Controversial” Slight Against Democratic Veterans

Kevin Nicholson took to the radio yesterday to “lash out” at veterans who vote for Democrats, questioning their “cognitive thought process” and arguing that serving in the military is fundamentally conservative.

It’s worth noting Nicholson himself used to vote and work for Democrats and has struggled to answer basic questions about his own conservative credentials in the primary, which is why he’s “been met with skepticism by some Republicans.” The coverage Wisconsinites are reading and watching about Nicholson’s offensive comments won’t help:

CNN: Wisconsin GOP Senate candidate questions ‘cognitive thought process’ of veterans who are Democrats
By Chris Massie

• Wisconsin GOP Senate candidate Kevin Nicholson said in a radio interview on Wednesday that he questions the “cognitive thought process” of veterans who vote Democratic, arguing that their military service contradicts their political views.
• Asked by host Steve Scaffidi on the local station WTMJ about Republican primary opponent Leah Vukmir’s suggestion that her record as a Republican state senator should mean more to conservative voters than his military experience, Nicholson argued that to serve in the military is fundamentally conservative.
• “And just because some people that don’t call themselves conservatives and don’t always act conservative do something conservative — like, let’s talk about John Kerry — and signed up to serve this country, that doesn’t mean that that’s not a conservative thing to fundamentally protect and defend the Constitution,” Nicholson said. “Because I’ll tell you, the Democrat party has wholesale rejected the Constitution and the values that it was founded upon. So I’ll tell you what: Those veterans that are out there in the Democrat party, I question their cognitive thought process because the bottom line is, they’re signing up to defend the Constitution that their party is continually dragging through the mud.”
• Nicholson’s military service has been a focal point of his campaign to be the GOP nominee to unseat Democratic incumbent Tammy Baldwin in November, as has his journey from being a member of the Democratic Party as a younger man to becoming a Republican. Nicholson was president of the College Democrats of America and spoke at the 2000 Democratic National Convention. He later joined the Marines and told Politico in September 2017 that his deployment to Iraq in 2007 was key to changing his political views, saying he was “livid” with Democrats for calling the war a failure.

Read the full article here.

TMJ4: Senate candidate Kevin Nicholson taking heat for veterans comment
By Rebecca Klopf

• A Republican candidate for U.S. Senate is making national headlines for what he said about veterans.
• The debate on the radio was about who was truly a conservative, Nicholson or his opponent state Sen. Leah Vukmir. The two are running against one another in the Republican Primary for U.S. Senate.
• Nicholson claimed he was the true conservative because he served in the military, and in an interview with Steve Scaffidi on WTMJ Radio, Nicholson took it a step further, lashing out at veterans who vote Democratic.
• Veterans were quick to return the fire on Nicholson, including a Navy vet and Democratic Congressional candidate Tom Palzewicz. “Being in the military we take an oath to defend the Constitution and our country and that is neither a conservative nor a liberal position,” Palzewicz said.
• He says there are a variety of issues important to veterans Nicholson could be focusing on, and he’s disappointed by the comments. “Being in the military makes you understand what service is. And service to your country which is a patriotic act, once again. Not a conservative or liberal act.” Palzewicz said.

Read the full article here.

WATCH:

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Kevin Nicholson questions ‘cognitive thought process’ of military veterans in Democratic Party
By Bill Glauber

• U.S. Senate candidate Kevin Nicholson has made his U.S. Marine service a centerpiece in his bid to claim the Republican Party nomination. But during a radio interview Wednesday Nicholson took a shot at military veterans who are Democrats, questioning their “cognitive thought process.”
• A one-time president of the College Democrats of America, Nicholson has been touting his conservative credentials as he takes on state Sen. Leah Vukmir of Brookfield for the GOP nomination.
• Crystal Banse, an attorney who served six years in the Wisconsin U.S. Army National Guard, including three years of active duty and rose to captain. said she was offended by Nicholson’s remarks.
• Banse, a Democrat, said: “To me, the Constitution does not have a partisan slant. The military is a microcosm of our society. I served next to people of all genders, races, sexual orientations, conservatives, liberals, independents. Your role in the military is to defend people’s ability to have different political views. It’s all about freedom of speech and protecting our Constitution. Politics has no place in that.”

Read the full article here.

HuffPost: GOP Senate Candidate Says Military Service Is Inherently Conservative
By Carla Herreria

• A Republican candidate in Wisconsin’s heated Senate race questioned the thinking of military service members who are Democrats, arguing that their service contradicts their political views.
• VoteVets, a progressive veterans advocacy group, called on Nicholson to apologize for his comments.
• After the radio interview, VoteVets shared several tweets from veterans and veteran advocates who said they were insulted by Nicholson’s remarks.
• Despite his declarations about conservative values, Nicholson’s own GOP credentials have been questioned during his campaign to challenge Sen. Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.) for her seat in the U.S. Senate.
• Nicholson’s primary opponent Leah Vukmir, a GOP state senator, questioned his “track record as a Republican” last week during the candidates’ first public debate. Nicholson, acorporate consultant, was an active Democrat during his college years, leading the College Democrats of America as president and even speaking at the 2000 Democratic National Convention. “We know more about Kevin’s track record as a Democrat than we do about his track record as a Republican,” Vukmir said, according to the Wisconsin State Journal.

Read the full article here.

Read more:
PolitiFact: Military service is ‘conservative value’ and questioning Dem veterans’ ‘cognitive thought process’
The Hill: GOP candidate questions ‘cognitive thought process’ of veterans in Dem Party
Roll Call: Wisconsin’s Nicholson Questions ‘Cognitive Thought Process’ of Democratic Veterans
Associated Press: Wisconsin GOP Senate candidate questions Democratic veterans